2011-12 Panini Preferred basketball is the first high end offering from Panini during this 
shortened NBA season. It features four cards per pack/box with 3 autographs and one booklet card. At $200 it’s quite a gamble, but the product is a nice mix of a bunch of products that Panini would have put out this season if it wasn’t for the NBA lockout.
It features some of it’s higher end cards from a couple products, including the collector favorite Silhouettes from Crown Royale. We got our box in for review and can show you what kind of amazing cards you can pull from this product, as we pulled a sweet patch autograph in which you will see below the review.
If you want to see some other possibilities in this product, check out our official preview of 2011-12 Panini Preferred basketball after checking out this product review. Until then, check out what we pulled and you can possibly win in future contests here!
Design:
Trying to rate the design on this product is interesting. You have a bunch of different designs that would of all been in separate products had Panini had a full season of products. So while there is no real underlying theme to this set, the cards they chose to pack out in this product are some of their best designs in the respective products they used. For instance, the Silhouettes patch autograph we pulled is absolutely beautiful and a beautiful patch with an on-card autograph. The booklet card looks great, but wish they included autographs in booklets in the product. Otherwise, I’d be impressed whether these were in separate products but it’s cool they are combined into one.
Checklist:
The one thing I always enjoy about Panini products is the mix of current players and NBA legends. The one thing I don’t like about this product is the lack of rookies. I buy the excuse of the lockout a little bit, but I’ve seen some cards produced of players in their new uniforms without an issue so the rookies could of been made. Other than that, I received a nice second year player autograph, a current budding star, and a Hall of Famer for my autographs as well as a great mix of retired players in my booklet.
Value:
I actually got great value out of my box and I really think a lot of boxes will provide some pretty decent value. The three autographs is great with the chance for low paralleled autographs and solid booklet combinations, despite there not being autographed booklets. The checklist helps too with the great number of veteran players and retired players whom collectors do like to search for. At $200 a box, it may be well worth the gamble considering what Panini is trying to do this season with their products. It’s definitely fun to open as well.
Overall:
I shouldn’t be surprised on how good this product can be considering the types of cards they are putting into it, but it’s a nice pleasant surprise to get a $200 product and get some pretty good value in it despite getting only 4 cards in the box. The design is solid and uses some of the best designs over a number of Panini products. The checklist is very good despite the lack of rookies, and the value looks like it could actually have some good value across the entire run at average. I’d have to see more of what others pulled, to see if this box was better than average, but while I didn’t get big names except for the redemption, I think I still just about came out even.
As always, I appreciate Panini sending out this product for review. You can find them on their official blog, Twitter, or website.
Now, for the haul. Not shown: Hakeem Olajuwon Autograph Redemption #/10
But besides the rookie redemptions, this product will be an interesting mix of both vintage and modern day card designs. With new card designs and technology being used in insert sets like Breakout, Changing Times, Fireworks, Raining 3s, you will see some of the new technology at work.
On May 9th, 2012, you will find this product in stores. At 20 packs per box and 3 autographs with 1 memorabilia card, the hit collectors will be excited with the 3 autographs. (Myself included) You will also find a large number of inserts as well as you do with most sports card products nowadays, as well as some short prints.
patch autographs of the season as well a great looking die-cut base set. I fell in love opening this product last year, and this year was no different. Although I still have a redemption out for this product from last year. *shakes my fist* That hasn’t stopped me from opening another box this year, but this time, sharing it all with you and reviewing it. We want to see if the magic is still there from last season’s version of Crown Royale hockey.
